Process of providing shoe-lacing with tips.



F. l. mu PONT. PROCESS OF PROVIDING SHOE LACING WITH TIPS. APPLICATION FILED IULYZG, I912.

l 9 l 39, 1 1 2e 7 Patented May 11, 1915.

PROCESS OF PROVIDING SHOE-LACING WITH TIPS.

- Specification of Letters Patent. Patented fay 11, 1915.

Application filed July 26, 1912. Serial No. 711,649.

To all whom it may concern Be it known that I, FRANCIS I. DU PONT, a citizen of the United States, residing at Wilmington, county of New Castle, and State of Delaware, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Processes of Providing Shoe-Lacing with Tips, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description, reference being had to the accompanyleaving the material adhesively united to the threads and fibers of the end of the lacing.

My invention further comprises the employment of a material dissolved in a solvent of such a character that it can by pressure or both heat and pressure be pressed into the form required either for the finished lacing tip, or preferably into a form suitable for the next operation of making a finished lacing tip.

My invention further comprises putting over the pressed end of the lacing just described a small tube preferably of the same, or an equivalent. material to that adhesively united to the end of the lacing; and in pressing this in a mold, preferably heated, for

the purpose of forming an entirely finished lacing tip.

In the drawmgs: Figure 1 is a diagram illustrating the .first. step of the process. Figs. 2 and 3 are respectively a vertical section through, and an end view of, the mold by means of which the next step of the process is effected. Fig. 4 is a view of the tipped end of the shoe lace after the second step of the process. Fig. 5 is a perspective view of a tube section, and Fig. 6 is a perspective view of such tube section applied to the shoe lace of Fig. 4 and illustrating the next step of the process. Figs. 7 and 8 are views similar to those of Figs. 2 and 3 and illustrative of the means whereby the next step of the process is carried out. Fig. 9 is a perspective view of the final product.

My process is carried out in the following manner: Theend of the lacing a, Fig. 1, is

dipped in a solution I) which actually wets the fibers. The solution I prefer to use is a solution consisting of about seven parts, by weight, of nitro cellulose of 12% nitrogen; about parts, by weight, of camphor; and about sixty parts, by weight, of methyl alcohol or a mixture of methyl alcohol and acetone. The end of the lacing, wet with-this solution, is then withdrawn and the solvent allowed to dry 0E. Thisleaves a horny deposit on the end of the lacing. This end is then pressed in a heated mold having a somewhat elongated cross section -(see Figs. 2 and 3). The end of the lacing is, in this way, pressed together into a slightly fiattened tip. Fig. 2 is a vertical sectional view through the mold showing the manner in which the dipped end of the lacing a enters the same. Fig. 3 is a front view of previously referred to. The position of this cross section and its relation to the lacing is more clearly shown in Fig. 4:.

A tube is made preferably of the same material'as the horny mass which was deposited on the end of the lacing. This tube, which should have a. somewhat elongated cross section, is cut into short sections 6 (one of which is shown in Fig. 5) of the length desired for the tips. The tips, as formed by the process just described, are then inserted into these tubular sections 0, as shown in Fig. 6. The tipped end of the lacing is then pressed in another heated mold 7 (Figs. 7 and 8), in which the tube, together with the horny mass formed on the end of the lacing, are pressed together, forming one solid lacing tip with the fibers of the lacing securely and adhesively embedded in the same. The

mold f of Figs. 7 and 8 is in all respects Sim-- ilar-to the mold '0 d of Figs. 2 and 3, except that the cross section of the same when closed is circular and is of a diameter smaller than the greatest dimension of the elongated cross section, but enough greater than the least dimension of the elongated cross section of the other mold 0 d to permit the pressed end of the lacing, together with the tube section, Fig. 6, to freely enter the mold as shownat m Fig. 7. In addition to this the mold is so shaped that it presses a round end on the lacing tip. Upon pressin the end of the lacing in the mold f, Figs. I and 8, the tip of the lacing and the tube are pressed into a solid tip of circular cross-section, as shown at 3 Fig. 8, the material of the tube uniting integrally with the material deposited on the end of the lacing by the operation first described, thus forming a smooth end as shown at 9, Fig. 9.

4 Attention is especially called to the difference between this process and the mere pressing of the ends of the lacing into a tip of soft material which thereby may enter into the interstices between the fibers. this process the fibers or threads are likely to pull out, whereby in my process, each fiber being actually wetted by the solution, a

condition of adhesion exists throughout the entire mass which renders it impossible for the lacing to pull out.

Having now fully described my invention, what I claim and desire to protect by Letters Patent is:

1. 'In the manufacture of laces for shoes,

etc., the process of providing the same With solid tips adhesively united therewith which consists in wetting the end to be tipped with a solution comprising a substance capable of.

adhesively uniting to the fibers or threads of the lacing and a solvent of said substance adapted tobe evaporated ofi", then pressing thetreated end into theform. of a tip, then inserting the tipped end of the lacing into a tube which is capable of adhering to the .substance with which the lacing has been previously tipped, and then applying pressure to the end of the lacing carrying the tube, whereby the said substance permanently unites the tube with the lacing.

2. In the manufacture of laces for shoes, etc., the process of providing the same with solid tips adhesively united therewith which consists in wetting the end to be tipped with a solution comprising a substance capable of adhesively uniting to the fibers or threads of the lacing and a solvent of said substance adapted to be evaporated ofi, then pressing the treated end into the form of a tip, then inserting the tippedend of the lacing into a tube which is capable of adhering to the substance with which the lacing has been previously tipped, and then applying heat and pressure to the end ofthe'lacing carrying the tube, whereby the said substance permanently unites the tube with'the lacing.

3. In the manufacture of laces for shoes, etc., the process of providing the same with solid tips adhesively united therewith which consists in wetting the end to be tipped with a solution comprising a substance capable of adhesively uniting to the fibers or threads of the lacing and a solvent of said substance adapted to be evaporated off,.then evaporating oil" the solvent, then molding the treated end into a tip by the application of heat and pressure, then inserting the tipped end of the lacing into a tube, and then applying heat and pressure to the end of the lacing carrying the tube. V

4. In the manufacture of laces for shoes, etc., the process of providing the same with solid tips adhesively united therewith,

which consists in applying to the end of the lacing a substance capable of adhesively uniting therewith, pressing and molding the treated end to cause said substance to adhesively unite with the threads or fibers of the lacing, inserting the tipped end of the lacing into a tube capable of adhering to said substance and adapted to form the superficial part of the finished tip, and pressing and molding the end of the lacing carrying the tube, thereby forming a tip permanently united to the lacing.

5. In-the manufacture of laces for shoes,

etc., the process of providing the same with solid tips adhesively united therewith which consists in applying to the ends of the lacing a substance capable of integrally unitsolid tips adhesively united therewith which consists in applying to the ends of the lacing a substance capable of adhesively uniting with the lacing and a solvent of said substance adapted to be evaporated off, then evaporating off the solvent, then applying heat and pressure to the treated end of the lacing in the direction of the width thereof and molding it into a form having an elongated cross section, then inserting the same into a tube of similar cross-section, and then applying heat and pressure to the lacing and in the direction of the longer diameter thereof and molding it into an approximately circular shape.

7. In the manufacture of laces for shoes, etc., the process of providing the same with solid tips adhesively united therewith, which consists in applying to the ends of the lacing a solution which on evaporation deposits a pyroxylin compound, then inserting the treated end of the lacing into a tube having substantially the same chemical composition as the compound deposited by the solution, and then applying pressure to the end of the lacing carrying the tube and molding it into its ultimate desired shape.

8. In the manufacture of laces for shoes,

etc., the process of providing the same with solid, tips adhesively united therewith, Which consists in Wetting the same with a pyroxylin compound dissolved in a solvent, evaporating ofi the solvent and pressing and molding the treated end, inserting the treatedend into a tube composed of a pyroxylin compound, and then pressing and molding the end of the lacing carrying the tube to cause the latter to adhesivelyt unite 1c With the substance adhering to the lacing. In testimony of which invention, I have hereunto set my hand, at Philadelphia, on this 24th day of July, 1912.

I FRANCIS I. DU PONT. Witnesses:

M. M. HAMILTON, E. E. WALL. 

